Slow Mornings
by p3Teal
Summary: Othinus takes some time to reflect before getting ready for the day, but it seems like GREMLIN won't let her off the hook. Set sometime during NT 8. Special guest starring Thor-llerus.


**Author's Note: I decided to take a crack at writing a much...lesser favorite character of mine. Taking a look into Othinus' perspective, her flaws and small struggles, was interesting to write, especially off of Thor. (Or at least what Ollerus assumes Thor acts like.)**

 **Also, Othinus' birds are an addition from a private RP. They're named after Odin's actual birds, Huginn and Muninn.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

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The sun begins to finally peak over the horizon, saturating one corner of the sky in pink and gold hues. A cool April breeze blows through the wavy strands of the girl's loose ponytail. Out on the ocean, everything looks the same shades of blue, aqua, and indigo. When it rains, everything morphs into grays and blacks. This is what makes the beginning and end of each day so special. These periods of time bring out some of nature's more rare and interesting shades. These are the periods of day where black, blue, orange, red, lavender, pink, yellow-and nearly every hue in between-conglomerate to create an intense orchestra of color.

It's shocking, amazing to see how nature can create such magical sights every single day, while the majority of them go unseen by the only creatures that can enjoy them. No amount of paint, no cameras, no words, will ever be able to fully capture the feeling and uniqueness of a moment in nature. Sights like these, ones so commonplace yet so inexperienced, are understood the best when one is alone, where she is able to appreciate them personally.

Although, when one lives on the ocean, it is likely she has just been given too much time to be sentimental about all the insignificant things. Perhaps the world has already had these thoughts before-already understood them and moved on; whereas she's stuck with these feelings, unable to throw them aside and find something more worthwhile to use them on.

The warm, pastel shades of orange, pink and yellow have all virtually been washed away by the familiar blues and greens of the ocean by the time a crow lands delicately on the railing beside her. It squawks irritably, biting on the pinky she wiggles in front of its beak, reminding her to scatter her birds' seeds.

"Ow," Othinus fights to get her pinky back for a few moments before stroking the length of the crow's body. Yawning, she makes her way toward to her room to get ready for the day.

As she travels down one of the long corridors of Sargasso's numerous ships, she can feel the chill from the wood flooring slowly seeping into her toes. She faintly regrets not changing out of her pajamas before leaving her room. Although, knowing the early hour, there was only a slim chance that she would run into one of the other members of GREMLIN.

The familiar noises of the unnaturally-natural ship island slowly envelop her; the waves crashing on the bodies of the boats, the sounds of the ships creaking, shifting, finding more comfortable ways to interlock together…the occasional bird call.

"Nice pajama pants, Othinus," an irritatingly predicable voice sings behind her, "I know black is your usual, but you should really look into some cuter colors."

Momentarily, Othinus debates on two choices: ignoring Thor and continuing back to her room, or making the effort to turn around and talk to him.

Instead, she decides to do neither.

"These clothes aren't meant to be fashionable, so sorry to disappoint," she says quietly, unwavering in her steady pace.

"Huh? What was that?" She can hear Thor's footsteps quickly gain intensity as he speeds down the hallway toward her. When he catches up, the tall boy thrusts his arm out in front of her, where she can see one of her crows perched on his forearm.

The girl stops walking and sighs, "You're in my way," she says, leaning her forearm against the boy's. The bird accepts her invitation; its claws dig almost painfully into her sleeveless arm as it transfers from one human platform to another. Othinus sees for the first time that, unlike her, Thor is completely dressed.

He's dressed, and for whatever reason, it doesn't quite sit well with her.

Unfortunately, before she can mention this, he begins talking about the crow currently pulling at loose strands in her hair.

"Y'know, if crows had personalities, I'd say Huginn is the needy one," he laughs, moving the bird's beak away from her head.

Othinus leans away from him, batting his hand away with her free arm. "This is Muninn, not Huginn," she corrects.

Thor rolls his eyes, "Oh right, Muninn, then."

It quickly grows silent between the two magicians. The sunlight, now stronger, filters through Thor's golden hair.

Othinus narrows her eyes.

"Did you want anything legitimate from me, or can I get dressed now?" The girl asks, shifting her weight to one leg.

The young man grins, "Ouch!" He briefly places a hand over his heart, "I just thought it would be nice if we could catch up. You've been so busy the past few days."

"That reminds me," Othinus' gaze travels lazily across Thor's body, "Why are you dressed so early?"

Thor's eyebrows purse together, "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't usually see you until around noon or so…" she trails off before continuing, "I assumed that was when you got up."

The magician cups his chin. Closing his eyes for a moment, he thinks, "Hmm, that's true. I didn't plan on us running into each other so early this morning."

Othinus raises an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"I wasn't going to tell you this, but I was on my way to speak with that esper, Kakine Something-Or-Other," he moves arms to fold them across his chest. He smiles briefly, "Cute, isn't he? Way too out of it now, though."

The girl's suspicions lessen, but she makes a mental note to keep an eye on the magician when he's around. "I wouldn't consider a pawn like him in that manner," she blinks.

"You think Kamijou Touma is cute, though," Thor leans in, wiggling an eyebrow.

Othinus presses a thumb into her temple, massaging it slightly, "If I do, then thank you for bringing that to my attention. Now, if you don't mind, I would really like to get dressed, Thor."

The boy fakes an obvious sigh, "Well, alright. But promise me we'll catch up later!" He yells after the girl.

Finally freed from her conversation, Othinus makes her way down the corridor much more quickly than her dignity, under normal circumstances, would generally allow. Somehow, she was thrown off schedule.

She wonders how her slow morning managed to slip away from her.


End file.
